Nick HutchisonFounder and CEO, BookThinkers

“Focus on your activities, not your emotions.” - Chris Smith

22 Nov 2022 · 2 min

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1:30

In this interview segment, Nick Hutchison asks Chris Smith about the frequency and impact of his bipolar disorder and seeks advice for listeners dealing with mental health challenges. Chris explains that his bipolar symptoms affect him every day, and he has never experienced a completely 'normal' day. He attributes his stability primarily to medication and a disciplined morning routine that emphasizes activity over emotional self‑assessment. By delaying judgment of his feelings until after completing tasks such as making coffee, walking his dog, showering, and making his bed, he finds his mood improves without needing to label it. Chris also shares a broader mental‑health tip: while you can’t control your first thought, you can control the second, encouraging listeners to focus on actions rather than emotions to push through anxiety, depression, or bipolar symptoms.

Chapters

Well, I'm curious, suffering from bipolar disorder. Number one, how often do you fall into the negative side of your mental illness? And what recommendations do you have for people that might be listening today that suffer from some mental illness? Maybe it's not bipolar disorder. But I know there are a lot of people who feel anxiety or depression in different ways. And they might allow that to hold them back from becoming a successful entrepreneur like you.
Number one, how often does it affect me? Every day. I mean, it affects me every single day because I never feel normal. Like I've never felt normal for one day of my whole life. So what I found is that you trick yourself into staying in bed as the mecca. 2 things helped me the most. Number one is medicine. Medicine helped me a lot. The other thing is you have to focus on your activities, not your emotions. And that's the one thing I see a lot of people having a challenge pushing through. Somebody said this, you can't control your first thought, but you can control your second thought. I don't judge how I'm feeling when I wake up. I I judge how I'm feeling after I finish my morning routine. So for me, it was just sort of like, I'm not gonna figure out how I feel today until I get out of bed, make some coffee, walk my dog, take a shower, and make my bed. But that little routine is probably 30, 45 minutes, maybe almost an hour total. I don't even need to ask myself at that point, how you feeling, Chris? You feeling better? It just sort of goes away. And at that point, I usually feel a lot better.